DUSHANBE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday warned that Pakistan would not allow India to cross the red line by holding the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and endangering millions of lives for narrow political gains, outrightly rejecting weaponization of water.
Addressing the three-day high-level international conference on Glaciers’ Preservation being held in Dushanbe from May 29-31, 2025, Shehbaz Sharif said “Delhi’s unilateral and illegal decision to hold in abeyance the Indus Water Treaty, which governs the sharing of the Indus Basin’s water, is deeply regrettable.
Millions of lives must not be held hostage to narrow political gains, and Pakistan will not allow this. We will never allow the red line to be crossed.”
Shehbaz Sharif warned that there are 13,000 glaciers in Pakistan and they are fast melting due to climate change. “Pakistan gets half of its water from these glaciers and Sindh River is its lifeline,” he added.
Apprising the participants about the impacts of climate change on Pakistan, the prime minister reaffirmed the country’s unwavering commitment to environmental protection and glacier conservation.
The international conference is being attended by over 2,500 delegates from 80 UN member states and 70 international organizations, including prime ministers, vice-presidents, ministers, and UN assistant secretaries-general.
In his comprehensive address, Shehbaz Sharif touched all the relevant issues, including glacial preservation, Pakistan’s climate vulnerability, 2022 floods in Pakistan, global climate action and responsibility, scientific projections on glacial melt, weaponization of water and call to protect nature and humanity’s shared destiny.
“The world today bears fresh scars from the use of conventional weapons in Gaza that have left deep wounds. As if that were not enough, we are now witnessing an alarming new low—the weaponization of water,” he told the international conference being hosted by Government of Tajikistan in collaboration with the United Nations, UNESCO, WMO, the Asian Development Bank, and other key partners as a historic moment for climate ambition, glacier preservation, and international cooperation.
The 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, through a resolution, had declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, 21st of March as World Day for Glaciers starting in 2025, and that the Government of Tajikistan will host the International Conference on the subject in 2025.
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